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I just would like to ask anyone who plays this piece - how much limit can I use for rubato without screwing it up. I want to sound out the smooth legato features and capture the spirit, but before I start learning it I don't want to dishonour the composer however making a piece your own is why you play

I love this piece--the first one I actually performed (as an amateur).

I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of Friedman's rendition. To me his rubato seems overdone (this may be a matter of changing fashions since his time). In any case, I think it's important to be able to play the rhythms more or less as written before taking a lot of freedoms.

I always think of the left hand as sort of representing the rhythmic action of poling (or rowing) the gondola. I used to put some rubato in there when I was younger for "drama", but as I've matured i really like it a little more metronomic. Paints the picture better IMO.

okay guys, thanks for the comments. I especially like the idea from TigerRad of the left hand representing the action of poling the gondola. Thats going to give me something to work towards. I've gone through the piece HS and theres actually a lot of repeats, and the left hand motion seems to continue consistently throughout. I think the hardest thing here will be judging the rubato and getting a nice smooth legato finish.